What surprises does Canon still have in store for the EOS-1D X Mark III?

Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
I get a little tired of this trope that only people who don't know what they are doing complain about the autofocus.

The fact is, many if not most sports shooters still default to single point or single point expanded because virtually none of the other settings do well at locking on a subject when shooting sports. That shows right there that there is room for improvement.

To say that people just need to study the various use cases and refine their choices is a red herring. I can guarantee you that top sports photographers like Peter Read Miller aren't digging through the menu like that. In fact, he says as much on his video channel. If a system isn't intuitive right out of the box it needs work. Canon's autofocus is good, but it definitely can be improved and judging by Canon's own development announcement, they realize that.
I'm not and never have said the AF couldn't be better and I'd like it to be better, of course there are improvements to make and I welcome them and look forwards to them.

My point has always been there is a very small difference between the three top end AF cameras and people heavily criticizing one brand over another brand are almost certainly not using whichever they hate to its full potential.

As for Peter Reed Millers opinion, it is foolish and ultimately he will pay the price. Why would you not explore the tools at your disposal? It's like having a car with different performance settings and never trying any of them because you need to push a button, a pathetic self limitation. Sure things have to work out of the box but does he take the same attitude with exposure?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0

unfocused

Photos/Photo Book Reviews: www.thecuriouseye.com
Jul 20, 2010
7,184
5,483
70
Springfield, IL
www.thecuriouseye.com
What about including full touch screen operation? The EOS-1D X Mark II does not include touch screen menus or screen swipe on playback for camera stills.

It will definitely have the same touch screen functionality of the 5DIV. It won't have the same functionality of the R because it isn't possible to do that with a DSLR.

I don't think touch screens that have been a part of the XXD series for two generations could be called a major new feature in this day and age.
 
Upvote 0

tron

CR Pro
Nov 8, 2011
5,222
1,616
I shoot birds-in-flight (BIF) with my 1DX2/EOS 600mm F4 lll and believe I have a good grasp of the AF custom case settings, as well as BIF shooting techniques. That said, the 1DX2 uses "predictive" algorithms that causes the subject tracking to be unstable against backgrounds with contrast. The AF of the D6 and A92 are biased toward tracking and maintaining focus lock, once acquired. You mention Ari Hazeghi. Ari is a highly accomplished BIF photographer who shot Canon for a decade. Last year he sold his Canon gear and now shoots the Nikon D6. Ari has written in detail of the shortcomings of the Canon AF for BIF photography. Another dedicated BIF photographer is Art Morris. Art was a Canon Explorer of Light but now shoots the Sony A92. Art is outspoken about the limitations of the Canon AF for BIF photography. I was recently shooting BIF with Art in Bosque Del Apache. The tracking of the A92 is remarkable.

Canon said in a recent interview that improvements in AF tracking is one of the main developments of the 1DX3. If true, I am a buyer. Canon also said to expect a reduction of weight with the 1DX3 which is great news! Another big improvement will be adoption of dual CFexpress cards and adoption of HEIF files. I am curious to see the IQ of the compressed HEIF files, and the benefit, if any, HEIF may have on FR and/or buffer capacity.

BTW My daughter is a wedding photographer and is ecstatic about her results with Eye AF for still photography.
Allow me to repost 3 older postings of mine.

Ari is a fantastic bird photographer.

His reviews


vs

http://arihazeghiphotography.com/blog/eos-1d-x-mark-ii-field-review/

however prove just that and the fact that both Nikon and Canon cameras are fantastic too.

And actually Canon's review contained more interesting (and possibly more difficult to take) BIF pictures.

All photos taken with Nikon cameras are of birds that fly straight keeping the distance to the photographer more or less the same. So NO Big deal. All cameras would manage to take these pictures successffully especially if used by a competent photographer like Ari.

In contrast, photographs taken with 1DxII show movement towards photographer (like "Juvenile falcon changing direction at high speed" and "Juvenile peregrine falcon screaming") and many show bird interactions on air.

Coincidence of course but all these prove that statements like Canon's AF is worse than Nikon's are tottally BS so the switch to Nikon seems to be made for totally different reasons.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0

unfocused

Photos/Photo Book Reviews: www.thecuriouseye.com
Jul 20, 2010
7,184
5,483
70
Springfield, IL
www.thecuriouseye.com
I still doubt the 20.1 mp rumor. Unless the camera can shoot at 25,600 and have it look like ISO 400 in RAW (which I doubt is even possible) Canon would take one heck of a lot of grief. More importantly, Canon needs 1Dx users (Both I and II) to upgrade, and not making any improvement in resolution won't cut it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Upvote 0
If I saw a dramatic change of elite gymnastics photographers dropping Canon for any other single brand I'd think you had a point, but I don't so I don't.
I think that will be a different story in Tokyo. I work for a press agency and lots of photographers have gone the Sony route or are thinking about it. I will wait for the Mark III and decide after that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0
I'm still convinced it will be the ~24 MP sensor from the C300 Mark III. At it's core the 1DX is a Cinema Cam. The 5.9K rumor is more evidence of that.

I'm guessing Canon is cleverly tempering expectations with the 20MP rumor so that when it launches at 24MP everyone will be happy rather than bitching it's not 30MP. That's what I'd be doing.

I may be wrong but I can't imagine why Canon would develop an entirely new sensor for a camera that doesn't sell in big volumes and has no other use in their system.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Upvote 0
Coincidence of course but all these prove that statements like Canon's AF is worse than Nikon's are tottally BS so the switch to Nikon seems to be made for totally different reasons.
The Arty and Ari show is all about monetizing clicks and selling gear. Any opinions they offer on equipment are intended to increase clicks or sell gear. It's a business.

Edit: Not implying they aren't both good photographers in their individual styles because they are. But, then again, so are a lot of people.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Upvote 0
Jul 12, 2014
293
270
Anybody who quotes Arthur Morris in support of an opinion clearly has little background understanding. You are as welcome to your opinion as is anybody else, however I disagree with you and think Art is a joke, and I have spoken to him personally about it. In person he is much more accepting of his personal limits regarding BIF as a genre he freely admits he does not specialize in and never has.

I do believe very experienced single genre users can find differences between manufacturers AF algorithms to make a marginal difference to their personal keeper rates (and that is what Ari actually says), but I believe anybody that lambasts 1DX MkII, D5 or A9 II as being uncompetitive or dramatically different from either of the others is an idiot.
LOL Such a vicious characterization of Art Morris (who has spent the last 40 years photographing birds around the world) only cast a dim light on the maker. I guess Ari Hazeghi and I are simply idiots.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0

unfocused

Photos/Photo Book Reviews: www.thecuriouseye.com
Jul 20, 2010
7,184
5,483
70
Springfield, IL
www.thecuriouseye.com
I doubt if most pros who use the 1D care much about whether the Rez will be 20 or 24, and probably wouldn’t want more that 24. That’s not the business for this camera.
This one does. Shooting sports means cropping, sometimes radical cropping. The more pixels available to throw away and still have a usable image the better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Upvote 0
I would welcome 24mp, but I would welcome better low light performance more--for my shooting. When I do crop down for reach, noise is usually a much bigger factor than pixelation. I can understand if you are making large prints that it could make a difference, but that doesn't matter to me.

I also expect IBIS not that Nikon has added it to the D6. Can't imagine Canon won't want to match that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Jul 12, 2014
293
270
Allow me to repost 3 older postings of mine.

Ari is a fantastic bird photographer.

His reviews


vs

http://arihazeghiphotography.com/blog/eos-1d-x-mark-ii-field-review/

however prove just that and the fact that both Nikon and Canon cameras are fantastic too.

And actually Canon's review contained more interesting (and possibly more difficult to take) BIF pictures.

All photos taken with Nikon cameras are of birds that fly straight keeping the distance to the photographer more or less the same. So NO Big deal. All cameras would manage to take these pictures successffully especially if used by a competent photographer like Ari.

In contrast, photographs taken with 1DxII show movement towards photographer (like "Juvenile falcon changing direction at high speed" and "Juvenile peregrine falcon screaming") and many show bird interactions on air.

Coincidence of course but all these prove that statements like Canon's AF is worse than Nikon's are tottally BS so the switch to Nikon seems to be made for totally different reasons.
I have owned Canon gear for many years but have had opportunities to used the Nikon D6 and the Sony A92 for BIF. Canon has ground to make up in regards to AF tracking and stability. Hopefully, Canon will make advances with the 1DX3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
LOL Such a vicious characterization of Art Morris (who has spent the last 40 years photographing birds around the world) only cast a dim light on the maker. I guess Ari Hazeghi and I are simply idiots.
I have formed my opinion of Art after a lot of background reading and a relatively short personal interaction, I used has words in describing his BIF experience and capabilities, he is and has always passed himself off as an avian behavioral image maker not a BIF image maker.

I don't know if you are an idiot, I don't know you, but again I used Ari's words to describe his personal use, and that is incredibly narrowly defined and specific to him as an individual in one particular and highly specialized use case. If you shoot like him and have similar experience to him with both subjects and equipment I wouldn't be surprised if you reached similar conclusions. I do know that if I had a Nikon and Ari was standing beside me with a Canon he would get more keepers than me. He believes he gets more keepers with Nikon than Canon, others have felt the opposite, Andy Rouse being one who switched from the D5 to the 1DX MkII specifically because of the AF. I also know very high level sports pros who have gone from 1DX MkII's to A9's mainly because of the silent mode.

Again, I welcome any improvements in AF but anybody that says there is a high percentage difference of keepers due to AF between the 1DX MkII, the D5 and the A9II is wrong. There are small differences for some users in very specific situations, none truly outclass the other anywhere and if they did you would only see that one brand everywhere. Sony has some very interesting features that make the A9II attractive over and above the AF and I'd expect Nikon and Canon to address those features in the D6 and the 1DX MkIII.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0
Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
I have owned Canon gear for many years but have had opportunities to used the Nikon D6 and the Sony A92 for BIF. Canon has ground to make up in regards to AF tracking and stability. Hopefully, Canon will make advances with the 1DX3.
I'll bet $1,000,000's you haven't shot with the D6, further suggesting your opinion is not based in reality.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0